My Psychedelic Healing Journey

My personal story of trauma, healing, integration, and finding my way back to wholeness, one journey and one experience at a time.

For a long time, my life felt defined by trauma. Experiences with the conventional medical system left me debilitated, and old PTSD wounds resurfaced, leaving me with a choice: suppress the pain or face it head on. I chose the road less traveled. I chose to heal.

While cannabis had already played a significant role in my journey toward wellness, it was psychedelics that truly helped me start living again.

Healing isn’t linear, and it isn’t the absence of illness or disease. It is an ongoing process of growth, adaptation, self-discovery, and learning how to live more fully in the face of life’s challenges.

This is my story of moving from trauma to transformation through the therapeutic use of these powerful medicines.

The First Steps on a Winding Path - My journey with psychedelics began long before I understood their healing potential. In college, a recreational experience with psilocybin mushrooms was fun and whimsical, almost like living inside a cartoon for a day. I had a blast with my roommates exploring the world through a different lens. The only noticeable benefit at the time was the absence of a hangover. I also experimented recreationally with MDMA and discovered that it was best suited for meaningful connection and intimacy rather than casual social settings or parties.

It wasn’t until years later, while navigating the depths of chronic illness and complex trauma, that I revisited these substances with a very different purpose.

My healing journey has been anything but linear. It began in 2012 with medical cannabis following a significant decline in my health. By 2018, my path had expanded into the therapeutic use of psychedelics, an exploration that continues to this day. Over the years, I have worked with a variety of plant medicines and psychedelic substances in both personal and professional capacities.

My experiences have spanned therapeutic, ceremonial, educational, and clinical settings. They have included microdosing and ceremonial work with psilocybin, experiences with LSD, the heart-centered teachings of San Pedro (Huachuma), private Ayahuasca ceremonies, and multiple journeys with 5-MeO-DMT guided by experienced facilitators and healers.

My work with ketamine has been equally diverse. I have experienced ketamine as both a patient and a nurse guide, providing me with a unique perspective from both sides of the therapeutic relationship. My personal work has included intravenous ketamine treatments, ketamine microdosing, and larger therapeutic journeys involving both psilocybin and ketamine with structured preparation and integration support.

Professionally, I have had the privilege of supporting others on their own healing journeys. I have served as a nurse guide, helped individuals explore therapeutic microdosing practices, co-developed the introductory Psychedelics Program at Holistic Caring & The Green Nurse, and co-facilitated a monthly support group focused on cannabis and psychedelics for the past three years.

My work in this field has also extended into education and scholarship. I am currently co-authoring a textbook chapter for IGI Global titled, “Microdosing Psilocybin as a Public Health Harm Reduction Practice: Registered Nurses in Trauma-Informed Psychedelic Care”, which is currently undergoing peer review.

Each substance and experience served as a unique key, unlocking a different door within the complex architecture of my mind, body, and spirit. Some brought forward suppressed memories. Others quieted the relentless noise of anxiety or softened physical pain. A few granted access to profound states of peace and connection, while others simply allowed my body to experience a level of rest it had long forgotten. Together, they became the tools I needed to begin dismantling, examining, and ultimately healing what had once felt like an insurmountable mountain of trauma.

Healing the Wounds of Mind, Body, and Spirit - Healing from trauma can be an arduous and often lonely journey, especially when conventional approaches fail to provide the deep and lasting relief we are seeking. That was certainly true for me. While traditional therapies offered valuable support, there were aspects of my trauma that remained unresolved, hidden beneath the surface and beyond my conscious awareness.

Psychedelic medicines and psychedelic-assisted therapies offered a different path. They created opportunities for me to explore parts of myself that I had spent years avoiding, suppressing, or simply not recognizing. In many ways, they helped me begin the work of integrating what psychoanalyst Carl Jung described as the “shadow self.”

The shadow self represents the parts of our psyche that we often deny, reject, or hide from ourselves and others. These can include painful memories, fears, unresolved emotions, limiting beliefs, and aspects of our personality that we have been taught are unacceptable. Over time, this separation can create internal conflict and emotional distress, leaving us feeling disconnected from our authentic selves.

Through carefully supported psychedelic experiences, I was able to explore these hidden aspects of myself with greater curiosity and compassion. Rather than running from them, I learned to acknowledge them, understand them, and ultimately integrate them into a more complete understanding of who I am. This process was not always comfortable, but it became one of the most important aspects of my healing journey.

For me, true healing was not about eliminating the darkness. It was about bringing awareness to it, learning from it, and allowing it to become part of a more coherent and integrated whole. In that way, psychedelic healing became not only a path toward recovery, but also a path toward wholeness.

Reclaiming Mental and Emotional Health - These psychedelic medicines played a significant role in helping me manage my PTSD and the cluster of symptoms that accompanied it, including crippling anxiety, panic attacks, persistent insomnia, and agoraphobia. By creating a baseline of calm, they provided the stability I needed to begin the deeper work of healing. For the first time, I could experience my emotions without immediately becoming overwhelmed by them or spiraling into fear and distress.

This newfound emotional regulation was transformative. It helped restore my confidence, self-acceptance, and self-esteem, all of which had been eroded by years of chronic illness and trauma. As I became more emotionally stable, I gained a deeper awareness of the relationship between my thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and overall well-being. What I learned was not merely intellectual. It became practical wisdom that I could apply to my everyday life.

Over time, I began making meaningful changes to long-standing patterns that no longer served me. While self-destructive behaviors are rarely intentional, many of us move through life on autopilot, unaware of how our choices, habits, beliefs, and coping mechanisms may be contributing to our suffering. Psychedelic experiences often brought these patterns into conscious awareness, allowing me to examine them with greater honesty, compassion, and curiosity.

Perhaps most importantly, I learned that healing is not about the medicine alone. The real transformation occurs through the integration process. It is the ongoing work of caring for the mind, body, spirit, and relationships while applying the insights gained during the experience. For me, this meant intentionally supporting all five domains of health and allowing the lessons from these journeys to become part of my daily life.

Integration is a disciplined practice. It requires patience, commitment, and a willingness to change. Without it, even the most profound psychedelic experience risks becoming little more than a memorable event. With it, those experiences can become catalysts for lasting growth, meaningful healing, and genuine transformation.

Building Healthier Relationships - One of the most unexpected gifts of my psychedelic healing journey was the profound impact it had on my relationships, both with others and with myself. These experiences often fostered a deep sense of interconnectedness, helping me cultivate greater compassion, empathy, and understanding. Just as importantly, they taught me how to extend that same compassion toward myself.

As I explored my inner landscape, I began to recognize patterns of thinking, behaving, and relating that I had never fully seen before. Viewing these patterns from a more objective and non-judgmental perspective allowed me to better understand my own needs, fears, and emotional responses. With that awareness came the ability to establish healthier boundaries, not as walls designed to keep people out, but as clear and compassionate expressions of self-respect and mutual respect.

This inner work became foundational to healing. It gave me the insight needed to repair strained relationships, approach difficult conversations with greater honesty and empathy, and cultivate deeper connections rooted in authenticity and trust. As my relationship with myself improved, so did my relationships with others.

As I continued healing, I began to see many of my relationships with greater clarity. Some grew stronger and more meaningful, while others revealed patterns that no longer aligned with the person I was becoming. These medicines did not tell me who should or should not remain in my life. Rather, they helped me recognize which relationships were rooted in authenticity, mutual respect, and genuine care, and which were sustained by habit, obligation, guilt, or fear.

This process was not always comfortable. In some cases, it was heartbreaking. Healing often requires us to acknowledge truths we have spent years avoiding. I learned that not everyone who has been part of our past is meant to accompany us into our future.

Perhaps the most profound lessons involved family. Through this work, I came to understand that loving someone does not require abandoning yourself. Healthy relationships, whether with friends or family, are built on honesty, respect, healthy boundaries, and the freedom for each person to grow into who they are meant to become.

This journey taught me a profound lesson: the foundation for healthier relationships with others is a healthier relationship with myself. Psychedelic healing illuminated that true connection begins within. The more deeply I connected with my own being, the greater my capacity became to form meaningful bonds with the people around me.

Finding Physical Relief - The benefits were not limited to my mental and emotional health. They were profoundly physical as well. As someone living with chronic pain and chronic illness, I had spent years focusing on what my body could no longer do. The frustration, grief, and limitations often felt overwhelming. Psychedelic experiences helped me shift that perspective. Rather than focusing on loss, I began to appreciate what my body was still capable of doing. This seemingly simple change in perspective became an important part of my healing process.

As my relationship with my body changed, so did my approach to managing pain. I found myself relying less on conventional pharmaceuticals and experiencing fewer of the side effects that often accompanied them. More importantly, I began viewing my body with greater compassion and understanding rather than frustration and disappointment.

For me, psychedelics became one part of a more holistic approach to healing. They supported not only symptom management, but also a deeper sense of connection with my body and an appreciation for its remarkable capacity to heal, adapt, and persevere. While chronic pain remains part of my journey, these experiences helped me move from a place of resistance to a place of acceptance, partnership, and hope.

What is the Therapeutic Use of Psychedelics? While using psychedelics for recreational purposes is one aspect of their use, I have also participated in those experiences. Often shared with curious nurses, friends, and loved ones, those journeys served many purposes. They were fun, fostered connection, encouraged exploration, and provided opportunities to experience the world from a different perspective. Those experiences were valuable in their own right and helped shape my understanding of these medicines.

While I still appreciate that psychedelics can be used recreationally and socially, the vast majority of my current experiences are approached through a therapeutic, spiritual, and personal growth lens.

My current relationship with psychedelics is very different.

Today, my journeys are primarily therapeutic in nature. They are approached with intention, preparation, and a commitment to personal growth. Unlike recreational experiences, therapeutic work requires a willingness to be vulnerable, to look inward, and to engage honestly with the parts of ourselves that are often hidden from view.

The therapeutic use of psychedelics involves the intentional use of entheogens, substances capable of influencing perception, mood, and consciousness, in support of healing and transformation. The goal is not simply to have an experience, but to cultivate greater awareness, insight, and understanding that can be integrated into daily life.

While every journey is unique, the objective remains the same: to support holistic wellness by creating meaningful improvements across one or more of the five domains of health: biological, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social, while maintaining balance among them.

The Journey Continues: Healing and Educating - Psychedelic experiences exist on a spectrum. Some are recreational, filled with fun and playfulness. Others are therapeutic and deeply transformative. Then there are the archetypal journeys, those experiences that transcend personality and touch something ancient, primal, and profoundly human.

Today, my relationship with psychedelics looks very different than it did when I first began this journey. What started as a search for relief became a pathway to deeper self-awareness, personal responsibility, and ongoing growth. I no longer view healing as a destination to reach, but as a lifelong practice of listening, learning, and evolving.

These experiences taught me that healing is not about becoming someone new. It is about remembering who we are beneath the layers of trauma, fear, conditioning, and illness. It is about reconnecting with ourselves, our purpose, and our capacity for growth.

As a registered nurse, educator, and patient, I have had the unique privilege of experiencing these medicines from multiple perspectives. Each role has reinforced the same lesson: psychedelic medicines are not magic cures. They are tools. When approached with intention, education, preparation, support, and integration, they can serve as powerful catalysts for healing and transformation.

My experiences have inspired me to help others navigate these conversations with curiosity rather than judgment. Through patient education, professional training, support groups, writing, and advocacy, I am committed to helping create safe, informed, and compassionate spaces for people exploring cannabis, psychedelics, and other plant medicines as part of their healing journey.

The science surrounding psychedelic-assisted therapies continues to evolve, and so does our understanding of trauma, consciousness, and human potential. While there is still much to learn, I believe we are witnessing the emergence of a new paradigm in healthcare, one that honors the interconnectedness of mind, body, spirit, and community.

My healing journey has been one of continual discovery. During a recent psilocybin experience, I received a simple but profound insight:

“Not everything needs to be intellectually solved. Some things simply need to be lived through.”

Those words continue to guide me today.

While there will always be more lessons to learn and questions to explore, I move forward with hope, gratitude, and trust in the process itself. The most important lesson I have learned is that healing is possible, even when cure is not. The path may be unexpected and often requires us to venture into the unknown. Yet when approached with courage, support, and intention, it has the power to bring us back to our most authentic selves.

And for me, that has been the greatest gift of all.

The journey continues.

Nurse Sherri - Ask The Green Nurse

Explore Other Substacks I have written on Psychedelics

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